A Ghost In Need
by AKidWithAPen
Summary: A Ghost in Need When a familiar ghost named Danny continues to haunt Sam after she used a Ouija board with her best friend Tucker, the two try to unlock the key to his freedom, while hiding him from the local ghost catchers and their ghost-kicking daughter, Jazz. What will happen when the boy finds himself in a Ghost Portal with the On switch on the inside?
1. Sleepless Sleepover

A Ghost in Need

When a familiar ghost named Danny continues to haunt Sam after she used a Ouija board with her best friend Tucker, the two try to unlock the key to his freedom, while hiding him from the local ghost catchers and their ghost-kicking daughter, Jazz. What will happen when the boy finds himself in a Ghost Portal with the On switch on the inside?

Sam had just finished her all-black painting of a rainbow and was clearing up when the doorbell rang. "Coming, Tuck!" She shouted, heading hastily down the creaky, vintage stairs. Her best friend, Tucker, was waiting at the door holding a sleeping bag and his phone. "Do you have the thing?" Asked Sam in a hushed tone as they were stepping through Sam's doorway. Tucker looked confused for a second, then confirmed. "Oh! Yeah, I brought it. The Only Unicorn In Jam Area game board?" Sam burst out laughing. "You can just say Ouija, dude. My parents are in the basement and they're about to leave." Right on cue, Sam heard the door slowly close automatically, and the sounds of, "Bye, sweetie! Have fun!" and finally a slamming door. Tucker could've sworn he'd also heard someone mutter, "Finally, a kid who isn't a goth." As the door closed, but he didn't mention it. People might think Sam was scary, but have you ever met a recyclo-vegetarian goth girl before? "It's still only 10:50. We've got ten minutes 'till the kid said he'd be here." Mused Tucker, pulling the Ouija board out of the sleeping bag... uh... bag.

It was 10:59 at night and Tucker and Sam were brainstorming questions to ask the kid. They had a small list, and as Tucker's digital schedule beeped, '11:00', he remembered something. "I got a new planchet! You know how the glass in the old one was all broken?" He said, pulling the shining planchet out of his sleeping bag. Sam's face lit up. "Maybe we'll be able to finally see our friend." She said, checking behind her for signs. The two teens placed their fingers on the planchet and moved it in unison. "Are you there?" Asked Sam. The planchet quickly moved to yes with jittery movements, as if the ghost moving it were excited. They had agreed to take turns asking questions. "What's your name?" The planchet glossed over five letters, spelling 'Danny.' Sam and Tucker quietly sighed in relief. Sam pressed down on the planchet and it flicked up a little. "Sorry." She apologised. The planchet spelled, 'Its ok' and Sam asked her question. "Will you show up in the planchet?" She asked tentatively. The planchet moved around randomly, before settling on, 'yes.'

Sam nodded and took the planchet with a slightly trembling hand, then held it up to her eye and closed the other. She looked around for a little before turning around, and she was shocked to see a boy the same height as her and Tucker smiling and waving. Sam covered her mouth and whispered, "Hi, Danny." Tucker looked at Sam, his eyes wider than the planchet. The white-haired, green eyed ghost chuckled silently and, with a smirk, brought his finger up to point towards Tucker. "You want him to see you?" The boy furiously nodded. "Ok. Tucker, look through the planchet!" Sam said, handing the planchet very carefully to Tucker. Tucker put it over his glasses and couldn't seem to find the kid, before settling on a spot in the corner of the room. Tucker gasped loudly and walked closer. The kid walked closer too, inferring that the guy wasn't hostile. Tucker thought for a moment, then held up his closed fist. The ghost laughed silently and bumped his fist to Tucker's, which sent a happy green light pulsing throughout the candlelit room. Each candle blew out and frosted over. The poor guy looked at his gloved hands, then at the ceiling, upset. Then he made different symbols with his hands that Tucker recognised as sign language for "Sorry, Tucker!" Tucker smiled, and signed "No prob" in return. The friendly ghost looked around and walked up to a notebook and pencil that were lying on Sam's desk. Tucker and Sam looked at each other and pulled out three of the four chairs that were next to the desk.

This was the most amazing experience Sam and Tucker had had with any ghost so far, though they'd only really befriended one, and he was about to sit next to them. Tucker handed the planchet to Sam, so she could look at Danny while he did whatever he was doing. Danny furrowed his brow, as if trying to figure out something. He smiled, signed "Look!" and manifested some ice in his palm. The ice formed a pencil shape with a hole that ran through the entire object, stopping almost at a point at the bottom which left a tiny hole. Danny set to work. "Can you hold the pencil?" He signed. Tucker picked it up, lead facing the desk. The strange tube floated over to the pencil, and after a few tries, slotted the ice over the pencil. Danny closed his eyes and took a breath, and Tucker set the pencil down. It shook and vibrated, until finally, it rolled towards the paper and stood up. Sam put down the planchet in disbelief. The pencil was still there, floating to the notebook, although the boy was not.

Then the pencil started writing.


	2. Can You See Me?

It started slowly at first, a few shaky letters appearing on the page, until the handwriting formed neatly into a few words. "Can you keep a secret?" Sam nodded. "Or rather, get rid of it?" Sam shrugged. "That depends." She said. This was a long string of words, and the boy kept writing. "I'm not exactly a ghost. I went through a broken portal and sort of" the pencil paused. "half died. I think I know how to get back." Suddenly, the doorbell rang, scaring the three teens out of their wits. Sam looked out of the crack in her blinds, peering through her window. Sam immediately drew the curtains back. "Seriously? Guys, it's those ghost catchers from down the street!" The pencil clattered to the floor, dripping cool water on the edge of the desk. Tucker saw the kid look around and hide behind the closet doors. Sam was already heading down the stairs. Tucker placed the glassy planchet carefully onto the desk and said, "Wait here."

Danny nodded. He'd heard from other ghosts that he'd seen in the two dimensions that the Fenton Family were notorious for cruelly capturing ghosts and throwing them through the portal they'd come through, even threatening to dissect them. Danny had never been in their house; why visit ghost-hunters when you're half ghost? But he knew they got up to some weird things in there. They lost their kid to a faulty experiment when the poor guy accidentally went into the machine. Legend in the Ghost World had it they only continued ghost hunting to find their lost kid. Danny would've liked to meet him, since he got his ghost portion from a lab accident too. But now, he would meet the child's parents and sister. He heard murmurs of conversation downstairs- "Fenton... friends of... ghost... to capture... device... contact!"- and felt a little sick. They said ghost, device, and capture all in the same sentence! Danny squinted his translucent eyes shut and went so still, he literally froze over.

Jack Fenton, the father to Jazz Fenton and husband to Maddie Fenton, was right in front of the doorway with the girls behind him. "Good afternoon, Tucker, Sam." He greeted. "Uh, hi, Mr Fenton. What brings you here tonight?" Jack beamed and Maddie stepped in front of him. "We're friends of your parents. We just finished a device that lets you see, hear, and make any contact with a ghost! Isn't that exciting? It will make it much easier to capture ghosts when we can see and contact them." Sam and Tucker tried to hide their excitement so as not to make the Fentons suspect anything. Jazz stepped in front of Jack and Maddie and kneeled over. "Mom, Dad, I'll just tell them about the device!" She whispered, shivering from sudden cold, into Tucker and Sam's ears. 'Look, I know there's some sort of ghost in that house and I've seen you with that Ouija board.' Sam nodded. "Yeah? What's wrong with that?" Jazz blushed and looked to the floor. 'Well... my brother... if he happened to show up if you use the device, can you tell me? I won't spill the beans!' She straightened her back. "N-" "Yes, you can." Tucker stopped. "Wait, what? Sam-" Sam gave him a flat look. "It's her brother, Tuck. Of course you can, Jazz." Jazz beamed and put a small, flat box with dials and knobs on it in Sam's palm. "I knew I could count on you guys." She gratefully said, walking to the very unnaturally, heavily, armed car.

Sam pocketed the device and, walking up the stairs, she and Tucker felt a strong cold. "Is it just me, or is it chilly in here?" Tucker asked, chattering his teeth. Sam turned the doorknob, which was almost frozen shut. She pulled the cold door inwards and saw a bunch of ice and snow in the room, particularly piling up in a corner. She grabbed the planchet quickly out of a sheet of snow, brushing ice off of the glass. She looked at the kid huddled in the corner. 'Dan doesn't look too good.' She whispered worriedly to Tucker. 'Ooh! Try using the whatchamacallit to, like, make sure you can see him!' He suggested, crossing his arms to his chest and sitting on the bed. Sam pulled out the device, her hair blowing in the wind coming from the iciest corner, and looked at the knobs. They were each labelled, 'S', 'V' and 'C'. "Uuh..."

Sam clutched the tiny rectangle in her hands, shivering with cold and fright. "S-sound... Voice... and... C-c-con-t-tact." She deciphered. Sam fiddled with the first dial and heard teeth chattering. This was good. She turned the second dial and saw a silhouette against the wall. This was better. Sam fiddled with the knobs some more before she saw a white-haired, green-eyed boy around the same age as her, huddled in the corner, a small icy tear shining on his cheek. Sam almost couldn't contain her excitement and Tucker had stopped shivering and was staring at the guy, amazed. Sam nervously walked up and put a finger against... nothing. She moved the knob to the right a little and tried again. Sam brought her finger to Danny's hand and placed it on his open palm. She then suddenly jerked back, looking at her hand and the boy looked up at her face.

The boy backed up against the wall. "Oh, no- hey!" The boy looked at Sam's face, and then at the square in her hands. "Did you... you're..." Sam wondered how Danny could look petrified, relieved and amazed all at the same time. She put her hand out and Danny reached up tentatively. With wide eyes, he gazed excitedly as he brought his hand up to touch hers and felt a steady, solid grasp. Tucker had walked up to the two, finding the snow and ice to be gone, and grabbed Danny's hand, pulling him up to his shivering feet. Danny could barely even think of how to thank these people for helping him, for actually befriending him; So he just said, "T-Thank you... so much!" Sam spoke coolly. "Hey, no prob. It's really the least we could do." Tucker looked at the ghost up and down. "Sorry to ruin the moment and all, but how old are you?" Danny looked thoughtful. "That depends. What year is this?" He asked. "2007" replied Tucker. Danny's face lit up. "That means I'm 14! I thought I'd been half dead for way longer." He explained relievedly, still smiling.

"Whaa?" said Tucker. "We're 14 too!" Exclaimed Sam. "This day just gets better and better." Sighed Danny. "Actually, what day is it?" "Saturday." "Good. I mean, if it was a school night-" Danny looked awkwardly at Sam and Tucker. "Well, first I should enrol somewhere. W-where do you guys go?" "Casper High" was the immediate reply. The ghost kid squinted his eyes and sat on the edge of the swivel chair. "You know, I think I was going to go there before I, you know... Maybe I'm still on the waiting list?" He thought aloud, hopefully, swinging on the chair. His hand phased through the edge of the chair and he quickly grabbed the chair with his other hand. 'I need to get used to this.' He said to nobody in particular. Tucker already had a laptop open and was opening up the school website. "What's your name?" Danny shrugged. "My first name's Danny... I'm not sure about the second." Tucker dropped his shoulders. "Sorry dude. There haven't been any applicants named 'Danny' for fifteen years."

Danny seemed visibly unaltered, though he was a little disappointed on the inside. Tucker wasn't finished yet. "But," he added, tearing Danny into reality, "It's super easy to get in. Don't sweat it!" Danny was unsure. "Alright, but don't my parents need to sign something? I don't exactly have any right now." Although he couldn't remember them well, Danny still missed his parents. He hoped they still missed him, half dead or not. Sam laughed. "Seriously. You just sign a waver and you're all set, including the locker." Danny laughed. "Wow. That's almost too easy!" He chuckled. Danny looked down at his black and white jumpsuit and pulled his hand from the chair, revealing a white glove. "Strange..." He muttered, standing up from the seat. "What is it?" Asked Sam while Tucker looked up from the Laptop. "I must be imagining things, but I could've sworn the colours are inverted." As Danny circled the room with his relaxed eyes, suddenly he jumped. He looked in the mirror and back at Tucker and Sam. "Are you guys seeing this?"

"Seeing what, exactly?" Tucker questioned, scratching his head as he peered into the mirror. Danny looked distraught. "My hair used to be black and my eyes were blue! It's like... my colours have been inverted!" There was a certain shake in the ghost kid's voice that made Sam and Tucker feel a little uneasy. "It's okay." Reassured Sam, Danny struggling to take his eyes from the mirror. "Take a few breaths. If you survived whatever should've killed you, then you can survive a few wrong colours. Okay?" Danny squeezed his eyes closed for a few seconds, gulped, and nodded. "Okay." Danny's voice cracked a little as he said, "I'm just... this is such a change from before. You guys seem to be taking this well!" Tucker laughed a little and Sam smiled. "You have no idea! But, for now, we should probably go to sleep." Tucker powered the laptop down and suddenly smacked his hand to his forehead. "I didn't bring another sleeping bag!" Danny waved it off. "If I can survive death, I'll survive without a blanket."


	3. Living with Death

Danny rummaged around in his pockets and, to his surprise, found sixty whole dollars. "Huh. You'd think I would've lost that by now." He remarked slyly as he handed thirty bucks to the cashier and pocketed the change. Danny was trying hard to break his habit of floating everywhere; regular people don't really do that. Danny got out of the bathroom in a white and red t-shirt and jeans and twenty-seven dollars in a plastic bag and Sam and Tucker turned to leave. Danny walked surprisingly well for someone who had only been floating around on a surreal plane between solid existence and a whole different dimension for two years. Tucker, Sam and Danny were fixated in a heated argument over whether meat was the root of all evil or not when they were approached by another teenage girl. "Sorry to, like, barge in, but why is your hair all white like my grandpa?" Danny pursed his lips. "It's... uh... really blonde?" He answered. "Oh! That makes, like, so much sense!" The girl replied as she speed-walked away.

When the girl was gone, Danny, Tucker and Sam burst out laughing. "Good save, Danny!" Snickered Sam in delight. "I'm glad you didn't use that excuse with us!" Said Tucker, wiping a small tear from his eye. "Hey, I was on the spot there!" Argued Danny, still laughing as he watched the arguably pretty girl turn a corner. "Though it was pretty dumb." Danny cleared his throat as he noticed the people staring at this group of giggling kids. The kid with the glasses and giant backpack who was holding a phone, the laughing goth girl with giant boots and a 'save the frogs' badge, and the strange white-haired one whose eyes glowed compellingly. "Honestly, guys, this has been the best weekend ever. I kinda wish I'd used that Ouija board sooner." "Aw, stop." "We were pretty awesome..." Another wave of laughter started as the three friends walked out of the door to the shopping centre, tears still streaming down their cheeks.

That night, at nine-thirty, the three faced a small predicament. Namely, where was Danny supposed to live? After scouring the town for around five minutes, Danny quickly thought of something. "The library!" He suddenly said. "I can turn invisible and sleep there." The group collectively sighed and slumped down on a bench. "You know, Danny, your eyes kinda glow in the dark." Tucker turned from his planner to Danny. "Oh yeah. They *yawn* do. Sam and I should get home before curfew." Tucker looked to Sam and corrected himself. "I should get home before curfew. Bye!" As Tucker headed down the street, lugging his backpack onto his shoulders, Sam looked at Danny's glowing green eyes with faint worry. "You sure you'll be able to meet us at the park on time with all those books?" Danny nodded. "I'm sure I can handle it." He looked at the bright lights surrounding the street, lighting up the town for five meters at a time until the only light source was the moon. And the figure in a shop window.

Wait, what?!

Sam noticed Danny staring at the street behind her, to the left, and immediately became suspicious. "Danny? Is there something- woah." Sam stared in wonder at the glowing figure that was starting to take shape. The figure became a small, floating girl who looked equally as surprised as the two gaping teens. The girl looked around, checking to see if someone had noticed her, and screamed. She quickly phased through the roof, still screaming shrilly, her brown ponytail flicking over her ragged clothes as she turned invisible. Danny and Sam said three simple words that perfectly summed up the situation: "What just happened?" They stood looking at each other for a few seconds until Sam felt something in her pocket. "What if it has something to do with this?" Sam pulled the silver and green device from her pocket and looked at it. It seemed to emit small waves, much like what you see distorting the road when it gets really hot. "I think so!" Danny said, still flabbergasted at what in the world just happened in the shop.

"Should I-" "Try it." Sam twisted the knobs in every direction they would go, but the most that happened was the occasional blue-white flicker in Danny's appearance. "I don't think anything's changing..." Sam commented as she watched Danny. Her eyes glazed over and focussed lightly on his black hair- "Sam!" Sam snapped back to reality and saw his white hair. "Can you try that again?" Sam twisted the knobs and watched as green and white faded into grey, then blue and black as glowing rings passed over him. His skin seemed to get a shade lighter, too. "I think I did that once!" He exclaimed as he pulled his now ebony black hair over his face to take a look. Sam looked at him quizzically, her head cocked. "The blue rings just... appeared... and I looked human again! Then they appeared and I was back to white hair, and it never happened again." Sam looked on in curiosity at this short but intriguing story. "Interesting..." She mused. "I think we should turn you back though... just for now, you know why." Danny sadly nodded as the blue, glowing ringlets consumed his appearance again. "If people see someone they thought were dead, they might be freaked out, right?" Sam looked distant. "Yeah... they would." She replied, expression blank. She looked at the time- 10:43- and pocketed the device that seemed to disrupt... what? Ghost waves? Ectoplasmic energy? "I think I have to go, it's pretty late." Sam said, breaking the silence she forgot was there. "Ok! Bye." Danny grabbed his books, appearance wavering slightly, and walked through the library with a final wave as Sam turned the street.

Danny woke up on a comfy couch clutching a pile of books with one hand. He rubbed his forehead and, in a daze, thought 'I must've fallen asleep on the couch again...' He yawned and blinked, remembering the situation he was in as he took in his surroundings. Right; He was invisible, intangible, and on a couch in the library. And more importantly, he'd be late in an hour. Almost becoming visible, Danny teetered on the floor for a moment before zipping off, almost dropping his Math book on the way. Although he'd spent most of his time in a select few places when he was in that sort of in-between world, he still knew the town like the back of his hand, especially from an aerial view. 'It really does look beautiful from the clouds,' he thought as he caught that one math book that kept falling. Well, actually, it looked more like a box with the word 'MATH' on the front. Well, it didn't matter now, because the park was right underneath him and he could see Tucker and Sam.

Danny landed, flew behind a tree and walked towards Sam and Tucker, making sure nobody was looking as he and his books became visible. "Hey guys!" He said, waving a hand. Tucker and Sam turned and saw Danny drop the 'MATH' book that was in his hand. They also watched it glow, expand, and finally burst. Then, they watched, still, as a small, burly figure floated out and shouted in the least scary voice Danny had ever heard, "BEWARE! For I am the BOX GHOST!" As the plump ghost continued his cliche monologue, Sam pulled a silver thermos from her backpack and, to Danny's amazement and Tucker's... opposite... of amazement, she trapped the ghost with a bright blue tendril that curled around his previously box-covered stomach.

"What was that?!" Danny's other books dropped to the neatly cut grass, bouncing a little. Sam and Tucker snickered. "Oh yeah!" Remembered Tucker. "That's the box ghost." "No, I meant the-" "I know, dude! Just messing with ya. That's the Fenton Thermos. Remember those two ghost hunters that came to Sam's when you were in there?" He waited for Danny to nod. "We're family friends, so we catch evil ghosts with some of the stuff they give us." Danny picked his books up again, for the hundredth time that day, and put them in his small bag. "Cool! When'd you guys start catching ghosts?" Tucker turned to Sam and gave her a look like he was asking her a question without words. Sam nodded. "It was actually to catch you." She began.


End file.
